Nikon D40 beginner portrait lenz?

neastguy

what would be a good starter lenz for lower light portraits? I'm talking sub $200... thanks... not sure where to ask this.. thanks...

Scott_Quier

neastguy wrote:

what would be a good starter lenz for lower light portraits? I'm talking sub $200... thanks... not sure where to ask this.. thanks...

50mm f/1.8 maybe?

neastguy

Scott_Quier wrote:

50mm f/1.8 maybe?

here is how much of a noob I am to lenz's if it say 50mm.. does that mean its just 50mm and nothing else..no zoom in or out at all? so basically set the camera where you want it and focus

Ed911

neastguy wrote:

here is how much of a noob I am to lenz's if it say 50mm.. does that mean its just 50mm and nothing else..no zoom in or out at all? so basically set the camera where you want it and focus

Yep, but for that price, that's what you get. Just use your feet to zoom in and out.
B and H, online has new USA warranty Nikor 50mm 1.8f D autofocus lenses for around $100.00 and the 50mm 1.4 for around $280.00.

Scott_Quier

neastguy wrote:

here is how much of a noob I am to lenz's if it say 50mm.. does that mean its just 50mm and nothing else..no zoom in or out at all? so basically set the camera where you want it and focus

The 50mm f/1.8 is a fixed focal length (or "prime") lens. No zoom function. Primes have their advantages:

• Their design is usually much less complicated than a zoom. Fewer compromises need to be made in their design/manufacture and they are easier to manufacture.
• Few design compromises also usually means that, for a given price point, the prime will be sharper than a zoom.
• The are usually faster - meaning that the maximum aperture is usually larger - than zooms in that focal length range. This means that the lens can admit more light to the sensor than a smaller aperture lens, thus you can shoot at faster shutter speeds for a given ISO setting.

Of course, being fixed focal length means that you have to use the "foot zoom" to zoom in and out.

neastguy

so in your opinion I would see a difference using a Nikor 50mm 1.8f D lens rather than the two I have in my sig... lol... I know , just wondering your thoughts... thanks for your help

Scott_Quier

neastguy wrote:

so in your opinion I would see a difference using a Nikor 50mm 1.8f D lens rather than the two I have in my sig... lol... I know , just wondering your thoughts... thanks for your help

Probably. I'm not real familar with Nikon equipment (I chose the other poison:D), but I believe the 18-55 kit lens has many built-in compromises, especially if it's anything like the Canon version (the Canon EF-S 18-55).

The 50mm f/1.8 should rock if stopped down a stop or two.

I know the 50mm f/1.4 is a stellar performer - I've actually used this a bit. But, it's well above your indicated $200 budget.

And now I have just about plumbed the depths of my Nikon expertise.

Greyhound Rick

For the money you cant beat the 50mm f/1.8 or "nifty fifty" as its called. I used that lens for shooting greyhound racing when i first started because of how fast it is and couldnt believe its ability.

For around $130 you will be very happy and will really enjoy the lens. If you are shooting portraits seriously and want to step up to something a bit better later on you can get into an 85mm f/1.4 but for now the 50mm f/1.8 will do just great!!

Best of luck to you!

Rick

neastguy

thanks all.. I just dont want to start buying lenz's that are better than my camera.. which is just a nikon d40

Scott_Quier

neastguy wrote:

thanks all.. I just dont want to start buying lenz's that are better than my camera.. which is just a nikon d40

Not likely to happen. Your camera is up to just about any lens you care to mount on it, assuming it's compatible. The D40 isn't a toy - it's a real camera and can take wonderfully detailed images. In many instances, it's the lens that is the "weak link" in the camera/lens combination.

So, if that was your major concern when you mentioned the $200 budget, you may want to re-think that. In the long run, it's better and cheaper to buy the better glass the first time. If you buy something not quite there, you may find youself selling it at a loss and then buying the glass you needed/wanted. Besides, camera bodies come and go, but glass is forever. Buy it right - buy it once!

Greyhound Rick

Great advice Scott! Agree wholeheartedly!

The D40 is a very nice camera body and has the highest sync speed of any Nikon SLR (at least at the time of its introduction) of 1/500.

Ken Rockwell uses his D40 as his everyday walk around camera and he has shot everything!

neastguy

I happen to love my D40 , but being a camera noob.. I just didnt know if I was throwing money at something I shouldnt if I were to upgrade ... thanks for all the suggestions... now time to think about it all

Qarik

actually be warned though ..the 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 is not autofocus on the d40..only manual. For a noob I would not reccomend those lenses.

that said the new AF-S 50mm 1.4 has just been released and that will autofocus on your camera. IT is about $440 though. Note that this lens is a premium lens that is probably ona par the sharpest lens nikkor has ever created and you will never ever outgrow it.

neastguy

Qarik wrote:

actually be warned though ..the 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 is not autofocus on the d40..only manual. For a noob I would not reccomend those lenses.

that said the new AF-S 50mm 1.4 has just been released and that will autofocus on your camera. IT is about $440 though. Note that this lens is a premium lens that is probably ona par the sharpest lens nikkor has ever created and you will never ever outgrow it.

i thought there was a manual indicator in the v indow

jo_c

I'm also a complete noob with a D40. I picked up an old 55mm Nikkor f2.8 AI lens for next to nothing. Everything has to be done manually on it, but for some reason I really like the lens. Its the one I use most often.
If I decide to sell it, I'll get my money back no worries. It might be an option for you?

This is one of the pics I took last week with it..

Mitchell

Qarik brings up a good point. While your D40 is a good camera, it has a significant deficiency when compared with the entire Nikon lineup. It does not have an internal autofocus motor and will only autofocus with AF-S lenses.

If you are willing to sacrifice autofocus performance and can focus manually, the 50mm, f1.8 lens would be a good choice at around $100. Sadly, Nikon has not gotten around to upgrading many of it's prime lenses to AF-S. Your choices are limited in the Nikkor lineup at your price point for AF-S.

The new 50mm, f1.4 AF-S lens looks pretty good but is way over budget at $400 and is hard to find at this time.

Qarik

neastguy wrote:

i thought there was a manual indicator in the v indow

I am not sur eI understand you.. "v indow"?

neastguy

Qarik wrote:

I am not sur eI understand you.. "v indow"?

there is a little indcator in the window when manual focus is used

Tim Kamppinen

I've had the same problem, as I shoot a D40 and heard all about what a great value the 50mm 1.8 was, and was all set to buy it, until I realized that I would have to manual focus. This was before the AF-S 1.4 came out, and I wouldn't have been able to afford that anyway. My solution was to pick up an old 50mm 1.4 manual focus lens off of ebay for about $70 shipped. I figured if I was going to have to manual focus everything I might as well get a lens that was built for it. It's all-metal construction, so it has a more solid feel, which is good since I need to hold on to it all the time to focus, and I believe that the focus ring is larger than on the newer 50's. Also, another great feature is that it has a hard stop on infinity which means that if you turn the focus ring all the way to the end it will be in perfect focus for anything at "infinity" which means anything that is very far away such as stars in the night sky or the northern lights. This has come in handy a few times, and I don't think the newer lenses have a hard stop, but instead will focus past infinity and throw the whole image out of focus which makes it hard to find the right spot. Also, I saved $40 and of course the maximum aperature is slightly larger at 1.4. What's the downside? The lens isn't just manual focus, it's manual everything, as in I have to set the aperature with a ring on the lens and manually select the shutter speed in the camera. This, however, can be a good thing as it helps you to learn about exposure and makes you a better photographer in the long run, as well as putting you in complete control over your image. The lens is also very sharp and great for low-light portraits, as long as your subject stays still so you can focus.

Anyway, I'd recommend this option if you can find one of these lenses on ebay for a good price. Oh yeah, I just remembered, another advantage of the older lenses is that you can use macro rings with them and still be able to adjust the aperature becasuse they have an aperature ring on the lens. This is a very cheap ($15 or so) way to get high quality macro ability that is almost useless on modern lenses because you're stuck at whatever the max aperature is all the time.

patrick.danger

There is a focus indicator in the viewfinder, not hard to use depending on what you're shooting. I absolutely recommend reading up on this lens (and your new camera) on ken rockwell's site:

Camera
Lens

I slapped one of these on my D40 for a recent trip to Vietnam and really haven't taken it off since. It's really hard to get the incredible sharpness that Rockwell demonstrates until you get really used to using that focus indicator, but even a few radians off the mark still looks pretty good. If you're thinking about shooting portraits with it, I can't imagine you'll be hassling your focus in a hurry.

Even if you upgrade to a different portrait lens at some point, this glass is so cheap and so incredibly useful that you can't lose picking one up. And if you ever upgrade to a higher rung nikon body, you can take this glass with you and *POOF* it'll autofocus. And fast.